Ukrainian 5th Separate Mechanized Brigade

The Ukrainian 5th Separate Mechanized Brigade was a unit of 1,614 Ukrainian troops deployed in Iraq from 17 August 2003 to March 2004, where they served as a peacekeeping force in Wasit Governorate with other MNFI troops. Despite being deployed for only eight months, they suffered the fifth-highest casualties of the Iraq War.

History
The 5th Separate Mechanized Brigade, with 1,614 troops, was deployed to Iraq on 17 August 2003, four months after the Invasion of Iraq by the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark, Spain, and Poland. The detachment, commanded by Major-General Sergiy Bezlushchenko and Henadii Lachkov, was stationed in al-Kut in Wasit Governorate with the MNFI, and was larger than some other NATO allies such as Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. After Georgia, they had the second-largest amount of troops deployed to Iraq from a post-Soviet country. Their goals were to maintain stability and safety in Wasit Governorate, reconnaissance and destruction of terrorist and organized crime groups, detainment and court judgment of military criminals, providing help with the judicial system, rebuilding/building schools, hospitals, power stations, irrigation, industrial complexes, and work buildings, training a battalion of Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, and forming and training three battalions of Iraqi security forces. The 851-strong main force guarded the Kut airfield, protected convoys, acted as reserves, and assisted Polish and Kazakh engineers in destroying IEDs.

In March 2004, the 5th Separate Mechanized Brigade was withdrawn from Iraq, with more of Ukraine's 1,700+ troops leaving Iraq in 2005 (having only 876 troops by then), and by 2006 there were less than 100 troops left. In 2008, all remaining Ukrainian troops were withdrawn by President Viktor Yushchenko, ending Ukraine's involvement in the war.